Promises
by gleefullywritten
Summary: Picks up after 'Postcards from the Edge'. Walter wakes up in the hospital the day after his accident. Confused and disoriented, Paige is there to help him through it.
**As someone BEYOND obsessed with the TV show Scorpion I have been dying to try my hand writing some material for my favorite OTP. That being said I do not own Scorpion or any of the characters and while I loved the ending of S1 it crushed my soul to have S2 pick up a while after that incredible ending.**

 **Here is a one shot for all my fellow Waige lovers out there! Enjoy! Reviews Welcomed!**

 **Spoilers: Picks up after S1 finale so if you haven't watched that yet, well, you were warned.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _Walter watched in horror as the crow lifted its wings and flew off of the hood of the red sports car. As the car began its decent he heard Paige's voice shout over the phone, "Walter, no!"_

Walter gasped and jerked awake in his hospital bed, his morphine muddled senses noting only two things: the sound of machine alarms growing in intensity and the incredible pain his unexpected movement caused in his left side. As his erratic breathing continued he startled suddenly as hands met his shoulders. His vision still blurry he tried focusing on the figure before him.

Paige frowned down at the clearly confused Walter as she put her hands on his shoulders. She had been lightly dosing in the uncomfortable hospital chair next to Walter's beside when she was woken by the sound of Walter moaning, followed by the monitors beginning to beep more rapidly. When he suddenly jerked awake Paige stood quickly and closed the distance between her and the bed. After several failed attempts at gaining his attention by saying his name Paige put her hands gently on his shoulders, knowing that the genius was uncomfortable with physical contact she still hoped it would help ground him to reality. As she noticed Walter's gaze swing in her general direction she tried once again to get his attention, "Walter, its Paige, everything's ok."

The increasing pain in his injured side made it hard for Walter to focus but at the sound of Paige's voice he tried to enhance his level of concentration. Taking a shallow and harsh breath Walter responded quietly, "Paige?"

Paige smiled when Walter acknowledged her presence. Before she had time to respond nurses flew into the room. As they started fussing over Walter, Paige noted Walter's breathing get even more labored as his anxiety grew as the level of attention being paid to him was amplified.

Paige got the attention of the nurse standing closest to her, "He was having a bad dream, he's confused, I can get him to calm down if everyone can just give us some space."

The nurse frowned at Paige, "We need to check his wounds, make sure none of the stitches were pulled out."

"He doesn't like physical contact, especially by strangers. He is still feeling the effects of the morphine, right now he is confused and his anxiety is through the roof. Let me help him, a familiar face is what he needs right now. Once he is calmed down you can check him over."

The nurse looked over at her colleague before turning back to Paige, "You have two minutes before we take over. We need to get his breathing and heart rate under control."

Paige nodded and turned back to Walter who was now close to a full panic attack. She grabbed one of his hands in hers and remembered a trick she had seen Toby use once on a victim of a kidnapping who had also been panicking. Asking a random and unexpected question caused the person to hit a metaphorical reset button as they attempted to answer the strange question. "Walter its Paige; what was the name of the kid who sat in front of you in your seventh grade history class?"

When the nurses surrounded him everything had faded away, Paige's voice, the feeling of her hands on his shoulders, everything faded into grey as he lost all remaining control of his body. Every breath was harsh, filled with pain, his mind slowly starting to push him back into unconsciousness, when he suddenly heard Paige's voice in the distance, he tried to concentrate on her voice, "… _name of the kid who sat in front of you in your seventh grade history class?"_

Walter frowned as he took another painful breath, as he exhaled he responded breathlessly, "Ian McGreggor."

Paige smiled as she noticed Walter's gaze clearing slightly, now focusing on her face. She nodded once and smiled, "Good. Now can you take a breath with me? When I inhale, you inhale ok?"

Walter nodded shakily and when he saw her dramatically inhale he tried mimicking her as much as his bruised body allowed. He followed her in another breath, noting how he was slowly regaining control.

Paige smiled encouragingly as Walter began to calm down. To make him feel even more relaxed and in his element she asked between breaths, "What is the element on the periodic table that falls two rows underneath Zinc?"

Walter took another calming breath as he responded, "Magnesium."

Paige mentally shrugged not knowing if he was right, but trusting that her plan was working. She squeezed his hand in hers and she asked one more question, "What is a group of jellyfish called?"

Walter gave her the barest of smiles in response as his panic receded, "A smack."

"Good. Now, Walter, these nurses need to check you over, ok?" Paige noticed the frown that followed her words and the shift in Walter's gaze, her words caused. She rubbed a hand over his forearm soothingly, "I can stay if you'd like."

Walter gave a small nod, and an ashamed smile, "Please."

Paige gave Walter a genuine smile in return as she turned to the nurses, "Can you please explain what you are doing, the more detailed you can be the better."

The nurse who had given Paige her time limit earlier stepped forward and nodded, "First we need to check your blood pressure Mr. O'Brien, it's probably a little high at the moment, but we need to keep monitoring it and we need to keep it in check."

Walter nodded and returned his attention to Paige as the nurse attached a blood pressure cuff to his arm; as she began inflating it Walter mentally counted the number of squeezes she gave the ball in her hand while asking Paige, "How long was I out?"

"The team visited you last night, about ten hours ago."

Walter thought about that as the nurse addressed him again, "Ok, I need to check your pupils now, you sustained a pretty severe concussion, we need to make sure you aren't experiencing anything that is out of the norm after a blow to the head like that." At Walter's nod she continued, "Look straight ahead for me."

As Walter complied Paige spoke, hoping the sound of her voice would continue to keep Walter grounded, "Ralph spent the night with Happy and Toby at the garage, I checked on them earlier and they are planning on stopping by later today if you are up for it."

Walter had his eyes closed trying to blink away the lasting impression the pen light had left behind. "You stayed here all night?"

Paige shrugged one shoulder, "I wanted to make sure you had someone here if you needed anything."

Walter was gazing at Paige as the nurse came back to his side after noting her findings on his chart. "Mr. O'Brien we are almost done, we just need to check your side, make sure none of the stitches were pulled out. I'm afraid this will hurt."

Walter nodded and took a fortifying breath as the nurses helped him roll to his right side. He grunted as the nurses began removing the bandages that had been applied after surgery. As the nurse gently prodded his wound his vision began to swim with each wave of pain. He tensed further as he felt a hand brushing his hair near his forehead.

Paige had audibly gasped as she caught an accidental view of Walter's wound. Knowing that Walter must be in incredible pain she walked around the bed and knelt down to face Walter, trying to distract him from the exam. She reached up to straighten an unruly curl of hair from his eyes as she spoke quietly enough for only him to hear, "You scared the hell out of me O'Brien."

Walter opened his eyes that had been scrunched in pain and replied after a shuddering breath, "I never meant to hurt you, or Ralph."

Paige smiled sadly, "I know. I'm sorry I accused you of being a bad influence on him." After a slight pause she added, "You are the best thing to ever happen to him, to us."

"Scorpion needs you both, we are nothing without you."

Paige smiled, "We aren't going anywhere, I promise."

At her words Walter visibly relaxed despite the pain, trusting that all would soon be right again.


End file.
